


Life 14, what about time travel ?!

by Addictedforevermore



Category: Edelstein-Trilogie | Gem Trilogy - Kerstin Gier, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, BAMF Harry Potter, Crush at First Sight, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dimension Travel, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fights, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Love at First Sight, M/M, Master of Death Harry Potter, Mates, Powerful Harry Potter, Protective Harry, Reincarnation, Romance, Romantic Soulmates, Sarcastic Harry Potter, Smart Harry, Soulmates, Strong Harry Potter, Tears, Time Travel, Top Harry, Top Harry Potter, crazy pseudo scientists, gene defect, male Gwendolyn Shepherd, movie, story follows the movie for a while, sweet Gideon de Villiers, time travel partner
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2020-12-27 16:02:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21121475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Addictedforevermore/pseuds/Addictedforevermore
Summary: Harry is the Master of Death!He keeps getting reborn into different dimensions, each time with the task to save and protect. Luckily he is never alone, his soulmate makes sure of that.In his fourteenth life Harry Potter is born as Gwaine Shepherd.Everything suddenly centers around a mysterious gene defect, a handsome time travel partner and don´t forget the crazy pseudo scientists!All in all Gwaine/Harry is pretty sure this life will be entertaining.





	1. Charlotte´s brithday party

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, here I am again.  
This time it´s a mix between Harry Potter and Ruby Red. Obviously I am not able to keep my fingers from Harry Potter crossovers...
> 
> I recently watched the movie Ruby Red again and promptly had this story idea. I hope you enjoy it. 
> 
> Thanks to my beta!
> 
> Oh and not to forget, I own neither Harry Potter nor Ruby Red.

**POV Gwaine**

Here I am!

Again!

But this life seems to be a vacation. No one has tried to kill me yet, no strange supernatural things have happened. Not natural disasters, genetic diseases with a craving for human flesh, no gods or ninjas. Just me, Gwaine Shepherd, a normal human high school student. Well… normal. I somehow already knew that the time to relax was over, and honestly, I was fine with that. I simply wasn’t built for a slow, normal, boring life, no I was built for adrenalin, for adventure and near-death experiences. And even the seventeen years of constant peace hadn´t toned done my war-honed instincts in the slightest. I was a warrior. I knew how dangerous letting your guard down, even for a second, could be. How fast a life could be snuffed out. As soon as I was able to walk, I trained myself. I wanted to be prepared when this life throws me the curve ball. I started running, martial arts, no matter the form, and continued my training with every kind of weapon. Still, to this day I sleep with a knife within reach, I never go out without one either. That was a given, considering what lives I had already led. The last one had left quite a mark on me…zombies, fucking hell, those buggers really were a handful. So, it´s only natural that I quickly scan every room before I enter, or exit, and that I watch out for windows and doors. I always have a plan for a quick exit, nothing escapes my notice. I keep my movements deliberate and never make much noise. 

Anyway, today was my cousin´s birthday. Everyone was making a big deal out of it, especially because my cousin, Charlotte is supposed to have this very seldom genetic defect, which makes her oh so special. And this gene is said to activate on her sixteenth birthday. Therefore, my lovely aunt was even more doting towards Charlotte than ever.

Why does my family in every damn life need to be full of strange people?

I was living with my mom, my brother, my grandma, my cousin and my aunt and our butler in this huge mansion in the city. I love my grandma Maddie, she is a bit strange, and everyone thinks she’s crazy, but that’s right up my alley. What is a bit wacky in comparison to myself? Never mind that I am suspecting, that she isn´t half as crazy as she portrays herself. She often talked about a secret organisation full of obsessed people watching out for time travellers. If you believed her, Charlotte was about to be part of this organisation, well as soon as she started to time travel. I doubted her, but only a tiny bit, because why not? Why don’t we do time traveling for this life? It´s not if I hadn´t done something like it already, back then so many years ago. It certainly would not be out of the ordinary, compared to zombies, ninjas, resurrected goddesses, half gods, basilisks, dragons, kings and wizards. I was looking forward to it. The Master of Death was ready for anything one could throw at him. And if I was ever in a pinch, the Deathly Hollows had never left me, had fused with me, were so much a part of me like my left pinkie.

Right now is was leaning on the wall in our entrance hall. I had found the perfect spot to observe everyone coming and going. Years and years of living and waiting had made me patient, had made me enjoy people watching and perfect this mastery. Honestly, it was a mystery to me why great aunt Persephone didn´t know her man was cheating on her, or why uncle Bert thought he could hide his love for crossdressing or why Clary wouldn´t just tell everyone she was in love with women. Oh the blackmail material was growing every second. Insert maniacal laughter. In this moment Gideon de Villiers entered. He was Charlotte’s lover and according to Maddie part of the shady organisation. He stopped in the entrance hall and looked around, obviously searching for the birthday girl, I decided to have some fun and detached myself form the wall. Gideon seemed to have noticed me as well, because he halted his searching and stared at me, while I made my way to him.

“Hello, it´s nice to meet you. I am Gwaine, you are here for Charlotte´s birthday I presume.” He smiled, his face turning slightly red, and shook my outstretched hand.

“Yes, I am Gideon. Nice to meet you as well, Gwaine.”

I was taller than Gideon, so he had to tilt his head up a bit to look in my eyes. Eyes that stayed the same in any life, avada-kedavra green. Thank the goddess I also was male in each live...don´t want to imagine being stuck in a woman´s body. Gideon was smaller and slimmer than me. His brown hair was pulled back in a small pony tail, a strand falling over his eyes. Without thinking much about it, I leaned closer and stroked the strand of his face and behind his ear. His face grew even redder and he seemed unable to form any kind of sentence, just staring down at his feet.

Cute!


	2. Training, fangirls and a strange dizzy feeling...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Training, school, birthdays, fainting fangirls and don´t forget the milkman Mr Newton...all this plays a role in this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the next chapter. How do you like it so far?  
Productive critic is always welcome...
> 
> Thank you, WinterSnow10!

Well, he truly was cute. The blush on his cheeks and the way the words seemed to evade him, was quite adorable. I could literally feel fate’s and love’s intervention here. I, as Death Master wasn´t the only immortal walking the different planes. Oh, no fate had a physical representative as well. As had love. We were all wandering the different worlds, being born repeatedly. Reincarnated, where we were most needed, where the fabric of the universe was about to rip. Each with a unique skillset. Though we weren´t always close to each other, we were still watching out for each other. Therefore, in each life I would meet my soulmate, I was thankful. Loneliness was the worst. My soulmate is reincarnated with me, but only sometimes regains some of the memories. I would never know how my soulmate looked, which gender they had or which profession or beliefs they held. A lot was decided by his or her upbringing, the decisions they had to make and the obstacles they faced. Another plus, because this makes falling in love again and again much more exciting. There was always more to learn, more to discover of my soulmate. There was one thing that every reincarnation shared: Intense, unwavering love and support for me. I knew from the moment I saw them and in this life, Gideon de Villiers, was my soulmate. Well then, shady organisation here I come. Though I had the inkling that Charlotte wasn´t the one with the genetic defect anyway, because that would just be such a Harry fucking Potter thing. Let´s throw him without any kind of training into dangerous situations. Because why shouldn’t he survive? He is Harry Potter, the Chosen one! Urgh! But I was prepared, take that Potter-luck!

My dreams were full of my past lives, full of my soulmate. I woke up in a good mood and decided to make the best out of today. I put on my workout clothes and went jogging. A few years ago, read when I was seven, I found this nice old dojo, twenty minutes from home. It was run by a strict old man. We became good friends quick. First, he wanted to throw me out, but as soon as we got talking, he noticed my knowledge in all things tactical, martial arts and various other things. By the time I had found him, I had already trained for two years. In each life, if nothing too drastic, like being a ninja, happened, I started training with five. Until I was five, my time was spent getting acquainted with the new world. Therefore, I was able to demonstrate some of my marital arts. I had made a point in learning something new in each reincarnation. The old man’s own martial arts style fit right into the category. By now I had long gotten my own key for the dojo and could use it without him supervising.

School was usually boring. Why was I always forced to deal with it? At least the teachers knew to leave me alone, even if they thought I wasn´t listening I always had the right answer for their questions, no matter how difficult and I always aced my exams… So there was no point in trying to make me take part in the lessons. Leslie was calling me the lazy genius. Well I had an almost eidetic memory and was old. For the other students I was the unruffled untouchable handsome king, or something. Yes, to my chagrin I was damn popular with the girls. Though they only were brave enough to confess their love for me with group support. I wasn´t that scary. I helped, where it was needed. Maybe my humour was the problem? Today was slightly different though, because today was my birthday. I had forgotten…but who can blame me. I have a different birthday each life. Leslie congratulated me right at the front gate and the rest of the day brave classmates wished me a happy birthday as well. My fangirls brought me gifts too, while still sticking together in squads. The fainting was fucking hilarious.

After if came back from school, I found Maddie knitting in the living room. Deciding to find out a bit more about this shady organisation my soulmate was part of, I sat down next to her on the couch.

“Grandma Maddie, what can you tell me about this genetic defect? Is it possible someone else in the family has it, instead of Charlotte?”

Shaking her head, she explained: “No, the date the child with the gene would be born, was calculated by Mr Newton.”

“Mr Newton? Our milkman?”

She grinned, clearly understanding, that I was simply shitting her.

“Mr Isaac Newton, the physicist.”

“And what exactly does the organisation?”

“They help the time travellers with the time travelling.”

Wow, that was specific. For a short moment, we sat there in silence, the only noise coming from her knitting needles.

“Would you be so kind and buy me some more of my favourite candy? I’ve just finished them.” Maddie really had the I-am-an-old-lady-help-me-look perfected.

Not that she needed it with me, I liked her. She was crazy. I was walking through the dark-wood door when my head started to spin, the edges of my vision blurring. An alarm went off inside of my head at the tingling sensation that spread over my body. What was this strange energy? What was it doing to me?


	3. A chess match with grandpa Lucas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let the time travelling begin!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally the next chapter... Life is hard. I hope you like it.  
Anyway thanks as always to my lovely beta.

Time travelling was way better than any kind of wizarding travel! Who would have thought? There was none of the I-really-need-to-empty-my-whole-stomach-feeling! It was kind of relaxing. I arrived the same place I started, but quite a few years in the past. Lots of interesting clothing choices, and carriages greeted me. Time travel or not, I was hundreds of years old, less and less things seemed to be able to shock me. So I just smiled at a lady selling apples and asked her how her day was so far? She was a bit stunned at first, but it must have been my unusual clothing. I was wearing jeans and t-shirt after all… But answered me all the same.

  
To be truthful, I would have been interesting to be accused of being a witch or well a wizard. I haven´t run from authority for some time and it always is such a thrill to be chased by an angry mob.  
Zombies totally aren´t in that category, they don´t understand fun! No shit, they need to relax a bit. It was a miracle they didn´t have a stomachache yet, with all the eating they were doing.  
Back to the topic. I travelled back my correct time not long after the nice talk with the lady, landing right back on a busy, with cars overrun, street. Oops. Thinking about the face Charlotte would make, when it would be revealed, I was the genetic defect one, I went buying the candy Maddie wanted. On my way back from the small grocery store, I decided to call Leslie. She was my best friend in this life after all.

“Gawain?”

“Hey, you know about Charlotte’s weird time travel genetic defect?”  
“Yeah, Maddie told us.”

“Well, it seems Charlotte isn´t the lucky winner. I got the genetic defect. Landed back in the 18th century ten minutes ago.” Leslie knew how I ticked and was accustomed with my daredevil way of thinking.  
“Are you shitting me?”

“No, certainly not. It´s really interesting. I should take some photos next time.”

“That´s…why the fuck are you wondering about photos! Where are you right now?”  
“Oh, on the millennium bridge.”

“Get off that bridge, you never know when you travel back again, what if you land in a time, the bridge wasn´t built yet?”

“You have a point.” Leslie was fast on the uptake, that was a plus point. Not fancying getting wet, I fell into a light jog. “I will call you back.”

As soon as I stepped back into the mansion, I was on guard. I heard quite a few breathing noises with no one in sight. Concluding that it probably had to do something with my birthday, I left my knife in its hiding place. “Happy Birthday!” Yep…the dinner afterwards was nice, and it got even more intriguing when Maddie had one of her moments. Well she told a prophecy. I knew I loved her. She spiced things up, rambling about a Lucy, a sapphire egg, a raven, the time running out and me falling down somewhere. This life definitely finally took a turn. My mom and my brother didn´t seem so happy about those ominous words. Not wanting to ruin the evening even further, I postponed talking about my little genetic problem to tomorrow.

Just when I was lying in my bed, I felt another dizzy wave coming over me. Having the foresight to stand up and distance myself from the bed a bit, I travelled again. Curious I checked my new surroundings. My room was furnished different, walking out of the room, I ended up in the living room. It was brightly lit and on a couch reading a newspaper, sat grandpa Lucas. I really liked that old man, but he’d died when I was six years old, unfortunately. “Grandpa Lucas, fancy to see you here”, I called out entering the room, as if it was a normal thing to chat with your long dead relative.

“Gwaine, what a surprise. Come here, sit down.”

“How are you doing?”

“Great, nice sleep wear by the way.” I was only wearing a pair of bottoms, not bothering with a top. I shrugged not feeling embarrassed in the slightest. I knew how well toned I was, my body was nothing to scoff at.

“How often did you travel back in time already? This can´t be your first time, you are too collected.” I grinned.

“It´s the second time.” Grandpa Lucas gaped for a moment. “Did someone already tell you about your gift?”  
“No, I am just this relaxed. But to be honest it is one hell of a way to pass time."

“Pass time”, he repeated. Then he let out a hearty laugh. “I should have expected it. You are unique.”

I did a small bow while staying seated. “Thank you for the compliment.” He visibly got himself together.

“What would you like to know?”

“There are a few questions I´d like to ask, but what about a game of chess in the meantime. A glint appeared in his eyes. “I practiced a lot. This time, young man, I will beat you!” I chuckled.

“I don´t think so. But you can certainly try.” Just as he was about to set up the board, we heard footsteps. “Hide, quickly!” Deciding not to use my ability ,which I gained from the invisibility cloak, to vanish on the spot, I hid behind the couch. I had a feeling, I wouldn´t be much longer in this time anyway. Two men in robes, probably part of the strange cult, walked into the room.

“Your daughter Grace helped them. The gene carriers Lucy and Paul stole the Chronograph. They escaped into the past.”

“That was to be expected.”

“How can they dare to damage our cause this severely. And why does the family Montrose always play a part in such important events?”

“You shouldn’t have lied to them”, was the last sentence my grandpa said before I was yanked back into the present.


	4. crazy pseudo scientists

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another time jump, meeting one´s future self and finally a meeting with the crazy pseudo scientists...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are again!  
I hope you like the update!

Grinning to myself, I made my way back to my bedroom. Oh, yes this life turned out to be lovely. Full of adventure, exciting but not horror inducing. More like a children’s version of the last zombie infested world. My morning routine didn´t change, I only needed three hours sleep anyway, time travel in the night doesn’t faze me. Whistling, I made my way to the old man. Like some days I had my school uniform and bag already with me, I would shower in the dojo and head directly to school. That way I was able to train some more. Especially because I felt I wouldn´t be able to hold my routine in the near future. I was just throwing knives with a slightly deranged look, when I heard footsteps. Luckily, I recognized the approaching person, well lucky for them…I wouldn´t have minded a bit of killing in the morning. What do you expect from Death Master, sunshine and rainbows? I nailed the bullseye with my silver knife and turned around swiftly.

“How can I be of service?”

Normally the old man was never awake at this time of the day. Seven a clock was way too early for him. That left the conclusion, that he probably needed something from me. Especially taking his contemplating, carefully blank face into account.

“Spit it out, old man.” I grinned, pulling another dagger out of nowhere and spinning it around. He answered with a matching grin, laughing.

“I want you to participate in the next tournament, and trash everyone present”, blunt as ever. Now it was my turn to laugh

“Any reason? I did participate in the one last December, and you told me I brought down moral. Because not even the renowned masters were able to touch me.” I shrugged, what can you do?

The old man, maybe I should start referring to him with his real name? Nah… He nodded sagely, as if he was the reason that I was kicking butt each time.  “I need money!“ I chuckled.  I knew damn well, why I liked spending time with him. He was so straightforward, it was refreshing. I appreciate it if someone was honest with me.  “You know the deal. It´s still 60/40, I do all the work, and you still get 40 percent. When is the next tournament?”.

“At six tonight.” For a second I was stunned.

“Sure, why not. Where is it, you know I am still not allowed to drive? And how the heck did you manage to get myself entered on such short notice?” The old man smirked.  “I will drive you. It isn´t far anyway, only an hour by car. Blackmail is a wonderful gift."  “Why do you need money this suddenly anyway?”  “My woman wants a new chair and a new couch.” Solemnly and in full accord, we both signed: “Woman.” As if we had called the devil, the old man´s wife Roselyn came into view.

“Gwaine, good morning. Come on in you two, the breakfast is ready. Gwaine, you need to eat more since you are a growing man!” Usually I would get myself something from the cosy café at the corner, but Roselyn’s food was heaven, so who am I to complain?

Leslie met me at the school gate like every morning, only this time she was even more energized than usual. She had informed me, that she had researched all night, searching about the sect (Aunt Maddie had filled her in), time travel and prophecies. I listened patiently and with a small smile, while she ranted. As soon as she needed to breath, I interrupted and told her about my encounter with my grandpa last night.

“Why are you taking all of this so well? Shouldn´t you be frightened?” Leslie was shaking me with her hand on my shoulders.  “Time travelling is nothing, compared…” Before my friend could ask more questions, we were interrupted by a giggling. blushing girl, her friends spying on us from two feet away  Urgh, fan girls. Reminding myself that murder was not an option, I turned her way and nodded my head in greeting.

“I…mm…I…”, she took a deep breath, bracing herself,  “I am in love with you, can you please be my date to the school ball?” The poor girl was heaving, like she had run a marathon. Hopeful eyes pleading me to say yes. I stepped a bit closer to her, in turn she started to hyperventilate even more. Grabbing her hand and planting a kiss on the air above it:  “I am sorry, but I already have someone, I am about to ask.” I wasn´t even sure if the girl understood one word I said, but nevertheless I turned around and made my way into the school with Leslie.

“You are such a charmer and a heartbreaker to boot”, Leslie lightly punched my arm.

I only shrugged. The only person I want, was, is and will always be my soulmate. Just when we arrived on the second floor, I was overcome by that dizzy feeling again. Dropping my school bag, I winked to Leslie and vanished on the spot. Ball music greeted me. The corridor was lit by candles, laughter flowing through the building. I ducked behind a column, when a hysteric giggling man ran up the stairs, quickly followed by what seemed like a servant. The wonders of alcohol. Strolling through the corridor, I inspected the paintings on the wall. Admiring the craftsmanship of my school to be. When another two people climbed the stairs.

“What are we doing here? We shouldn´t wander around, the count will be searching for us”, tried a tense young man to reason, but his companion wouldn´t listen and shortly arrived on my floor.

I grinned. I already had an inkling who those two were.  “Simply follow me, you will see in a moment.” I had to swallow down a laugh. It was funny for myself to meet myself in the past. Guessing my other self may have already experienced this meeting and the universe hadn´t collapsed, I revealed myself.

“What?”, Gideon froze stunned.  My future-self seized our soulmate by the arm and dragged him into an empty room, I followed amused.

“Well, I love a good twist. Do tell, how is the future going? Still interesting?”, I asked, eyes twinkling. Future-self, having set Gideon down on a couch, answered:  “Oh, it gets even better. Especially because I have this lovely man at my side.” Future-self caressed Gideon´s cheek gently. He promptly blushed.

“Yeah, we are truly fortunate.”

“Just one thing. Make sure to have shoes in size 43 in our flat”, advised future me. I just shrugged and made a mental note to buy some sneakers. That was not the strangest advice I had been given. Sadly, my time was up, I managed to plant a quick kiss on my soulmate’s cheek, before I was yanked back into the present.

Only my quick reflexes saved me from crashing straight into a human mannequin. I straightened and turned around, only to be confronted by a gaping Leslie.  “I am back”, I deadpanned.

“I…wow…that’s amazing! Where were you? I had to lie to Mister Whitman…”

Mister Whitman was the new teacher. Leslie swore he resembled a squirrel. In my opinion he was a shady character, twisted and hiding something, he was one who wouldn’t mind walking over corpses to archive what he wanted. In my old age one learned to read people… After I had bluntly told Leslie these observations, she promptly dubbed him squirrel murderer.

“What did Whitman want?”

“He saw me standing in the hallway, your bag lying on the floor. He picked your bag up and started to interrogate me. Urgh, I told him you were feeling sick, throwing up everything in your stomach. I swear he wanted to strangle me.”  “I am glad you survived”, came my sarcastic reply.  Leslie, already used to ignoring some of my comments, argued: “Anyway you need to call you mom! You can´t just randomly disappear! You could seriously get hurt”, she handed me her phone all the while pinning me down with a demanding look.

I sighed, then grinned mischievously. Oh yes, let’s cause some chaos in that stuffy organisation. Not ten minutes later mom fetched me from school.

“So how is it that I have the genetic defect and not Charlotte?” Honestly maybe I was having too much fun with this situation. But who could blame me? This was no life or death match, no small misstep could mean my doom, so why shouldn´t I relax a bit. Mom dragged me through the city.  “I will bring you to the lodge of Count Saint-Germain.”

“Oh, so this Count is supposed to be able to help me?”

“They are the only ones to be able to control your gene.”

“This all sounds way to shady…”

“Here we are”, mom pulled me into a huge building.  It was huge, finely crafted and with lots of stone carvings. The entrance hall was wide open, hurrying up the stone stairs, we arrived at a small office. Like those you saw at the train stations, or ticket vendors because glass walls surrounded the person inside. The woman holding a teacup, smiled at our arrival.

“How can I help you? Oh, Miss Montrose, nice to see you.”

“Sheppard, I married. I urgently need to speak with Mr de Ville.”

“I am sorry, but they are all in an important meeting.”

“Then tell them I am bringing them the ruby.” The woman´s mouth fell slightly open, staring at me bewildered. “What?” Oh, this was entertaining. “This is no joke!” With that the woman put the cup down and hurried out.

“How is it, you know everything and everyone here so well?”  “My grandpa was grandmaster in the lodge. They are investigating old myth, and time travellers like you.”

“How many time travellers are there?”

“As far as I know, only twelve. Almost all are long dead. You are the last one.”

“Grace? What a pleasure to see you.”

“Thomas George. I am afraid you will be the only one in that mindset.” Bemused I followed mum and Thomas into a pretentious hall.

The ornaments were even more pronounced, old paintings, marble and outlandish archways everywhere. On the left sitting on a couch were my aunt and Charlotte. But the man in the front demanded my attention. He was sitting behind an office desk, scrutinizing me like I was some kind of strange insect. I only arched an eyebrow, it was sweet how he tried to be intimidating. Next to him, still standing, was a man wearing glasses and a bowtie. He prompted me to tell him about my time travelling experience. Somehow I fell back into the depriving mode I had back in my last life. Explaining short and to the point. The eyes of the people in the room were getting bigger and bigger, not trusting their ears.

“Is that the truth, Gwaine?”, my aunt asked almost breathless.

I only levelled her with a short look, trying and failing to find me lying, she turned to the deskguy: “That’s impossible! Charlotte is the gen carrier, her date of birth was predicted”, interrupted the man at the desk.

Mom signed and confessed: “In truth Gwaine was born the same day as Charlotte.”

“What!?”, my aunt exclaimed outraged.

Mom turned to me, an apology written all over her face.  “Your dad and me bribed the nurse for your birth certificate.”

“How can this woman believe we trust in even one word she says? She was the one, who helped Lucy and Paul with their escape.”  Attempting, and only succeeding because of my long life and consequently career as an actor / human, I kept a straight face.  “You forged my birth certificate? And what does Lucy have to do with anything?”

“We always hoped, you didn´t inherit the gene.”

“That’s outrageous!” My aunt was so entertaining…well not only my aunt, the whole situation would definitely get a high rank on my most-hilarious-moments list. It would be right under the moment, when I the good-for-nothing-dead-last-ninja revealed being a successful businessman and consequently their last hope.

“My sister is once again attempting to catch attention, in her own pathetic way.”

“I would be damn glad, if Charlotte would carry on being the test subject of you crazy pseudo scientists!” It´s getting better and better. Oh, yes.  The deskman in his black suit was starting to get angry. Standing up and striding towards us, all the while in a monologue about irresponsibility.  “I hope you can deal with your conscience. It wasn´t bad enough, that you settled for that looser back then.”

“Still jealous Falk? After all these years…”

“Grace you still haven´t understood. Putting your small miserable happiness over our ideals. Where are you now?”

“We need to protect Gwaine from uncontrollable time jumps. I request nothing else.” N ow, that she reminded me. I kinda feel like I could go on a time trip. I was slowly getting used to the time travelling and was starting to be able to predict how and when it happend. Dealing with magic for so long and knowing your body inside out gives you some perks.

“Keep an eye on him. Don´t let him out of your sight.” I narrowed my eyes on that Falk guy. He could mean trouble. I don´t get bossed around. I am way too old for this controlling shit. Mr George entered the room, leading me out.

“Come on, the crazy pseudo scientists won´t harm you.” I couldn´t quite suppress my retort: “Oh, no I am way faster than you.”

Mr George grinned, and when we were out of earshot, asked eagerly: “Is it true you are supposed to be participating in the big karate tournament this evening?”

Surprised, I shrugged. “Sure, well it was planned. As long as you pseudo scientists are going to set me free in time.” His eyes were almost twinkling, his steps seemed to have gained a happy skip. “I will make sure of it. I absolutely love it when you totally thrash them.”  I couldn’t surpass a laugh. Who would have thought the old man was a fan.

“By the way I was a friend of your grandfathers, he loved talking about you. It´s so nice finally seeing you face to face. He was always trying to goad me into playing chess with him, claiming he had to practice to win against you.”

“All the practice in the world won´t help you, old man.”

“Let me introduce you to Gideon.”  I smiled slightly in anticipation. I longed to see my soulmate. Gideon was playing the violin as we entered the room.

“This is Gwaine Shepherd. Gwaine this is Gideon de Villiers.”  I leaned in the doorframe, taking in Gideon in a white shirt with a vest, his shoulder length brown her pinned back in a small ponytail. Ahh, I loved this life. Only because I watched Gideon really carefully, did I notice the slight red colour on his cheeks as he addressed me.

“Yes, we have already met at Charlotte’s birthday party. ” “That´s true, it was a pleasure to meet you then, as it is now”, I replied smoothly.

“Sadly, I wasn’t able to get your phone number, but as luck would have it, we will be able to meet more frequently now anyway.”  At the comment about the phone number, his blush grew more pronounced. Only to shrink again, as the rest of my words registered. “More frequently?”

“Possibly, Gwaine is the new Charlotte.” Gideon needed a second to assimilate the new knowledge.

Then his eyes lit up and he grinned at me, only to realize how obvious he was behaving and to try to smother the happy smile. Not that he was succeeding. I found it all so precious. I had to hold myself in check, and not pull him into my arms and kiss him silly. Mr George was watching all this with an amused air, keeping his thoughts and observations to himself for now.


	5. Don´t judge a book by its cover...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ruby´s true identity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my beta as always.  
And to those who also follow my other story "the marriage proposal" I can assure you, that I have already written two more chapters for it and will update soon.  
Now then, enjoy reading!  
I hope you are well or will get well soon!

“Truly?”, Gideon wasn´t able to hide the hope in his voice.  He half turned to me, but Mr George answered nevertheless: “It is all very complicated, it´s best you just go to the Dragon hall for an explanation.”  With a last shy glance at me, he left the room, but as he passed me, our hands brushed for a split second. At least I got some kind of body contact.

“Gwaine, the time travel gene causes unpredictable time jumps.” Mr George lent me into a different room. “You could jump from a skyscraper and land in the middle of a war. Or find yourself burning on a pyre. But in this room, you are safe, no matter the time.” He handed me a ring. “This is our insignia, should you meet someone in the past.”

“How often does it normally happen?” I asked.

“Nobody can tell, sometimes travellers, like the Count Saint-Germain, jumped seven times a day.”

“Well at least he was never bored”, I muttered. “Can you control it?”  What I really wanted to ask is, can you control me? Will you try to control me?

“As soon as it is proved you really are the ruby, you will be able to safely elapse with the chronograph.”

“Elapse?”

“With the chronograph you will be able to prevent uncontrolled time travels, because we will instead send you for a few hours into a safe time. We only require a few drops of your blood.”

My blood. My attention turned to him, he had my full attention. Blood was precious, it was dangerous, with blood, especially a wizard’s blood, one could do so much harm. I had drabbled in blood magic a while back, and I had been so immersed, that I now knew everything there was to know about that subject. Consequently, I had long cursed my own blood as though no one but me was able to work any kind of magic, or experiment of any nature with it. Therefore, I wasn´t that worried, but still you never know what properties my blood held in this life. What kind of aspects a time traveller’s gene achieved? Blood was a touchy subject. Ignoring the blood for now, I brought another question up.

“If Lucy and Paul stole the chronograph, how is it possible for me to use it to elapse?”  “That’s a good question. We luckily were able to get a second one to work. More questions?”

“No, see you later.” The last thing I saw, before I was yanked back, was the perplexed look from Mr George.

Landing in a dark barely lit room, full of old furniture wasn´t how I envisioned my day to go. Snooping around, I ended up searching the desk. It was full of papers, letters, books. I took one of the more interesting looking books, it seemed to be some kind of journal. Depicting the different identification phrases for the different days and what happened on those days. Turning page after page, I found a letter stating ruby on the front. Intrigued and feeling I still had time before the jump back, I opened it and I recognized the handwriting almost immediately: Grandpa Lucas.

“Blood opens the lock and you shall find what is written about you. Trust in your magic. The Ruby, gifted with the magic of the raven closes the circle formed by the twelve.”

Well sounds ominous. I liked it. A bit of mystery brightens the day. I tucked the letter in my pocket, and jumped back to the present, landing perfectly on my feet, though I startled Gideon, who had stood a few centimetres from my arrival spot. He flinched back and lost his balance. Milking the situation for what is was worth, I saved him from a fall to the floor. Holding him securely in my arms. His whole body being held up by me, he was relying solely on me. Like a princess while dancing, being bent over. Caressing his cheek bone discreetly, we gazed in each other’s eyes. He had been completely taken by surprise; pupils blown wide. While I had a gently smile on my lips, someone cleared their throat, efficiently alerting us to the world still spinning around us. Gideon blushed bright red and hastily straightened himself. He wasn´t able to look any of those present in the eye, keeping himself a tad behind myself. Not embarrassed in the least I turned to Mr George, Falk and the glasses guy. “ That were almost 45 minutes.”

“Gwaine, is everything alright? Did someone see you?” I casually leaned against the desk next to me . “Sure, all clear on my end. No, nobody was present.” Glasses guy was getting upset:  “Our whole planning is going down the drain!” 

Gideon had pulled himself out of his state: “Gwaine, can´t even begin trying to catch up. Etiquette, French, fencing, dancing, historical procedures. I will have to finish the mission on my own”, studying my soulmate carefully, I noticed a slight quiver in his tone, when talking about solo missions. Was he afraid? Had he been on missions already? Or had he been waiting for Charlotte to accompany him?

“Please don´t judge me before you have tested me on my supposed missing knowledge”, getting rid of the growing tension in the room, with that simple statement.

“Exactly, I am sure Gwaine will surprise you”, Mr George came to my aid.  This time it was Gideon who scrutinized my whole body. Not that I had a problem with that, oh not at all. He was welcome to look all he wanted. My facial expression must have said so, because he again started to blush and hurriedly turned away.

“Anyway, if we are done here today, I would prefer to leave. I still have an important appointment.” If Falk could have dignified dropped his jaw, he would have done so now.

“Yes, of course”, George was more than eager to approve, even though I was quite sure he held not much power in the lodge,  “What appointment, may I ask?”, Falk asked.

“I am entering a karate tournament, in”, I checked my wristwatch, “about two hours.”

“A karate tournament?”, glasses guy parroted. I rolled my eyes.  While Mr George had apparently taken the statement as personal offence.  “You don’t know Mr Shepherd is the worldwide karate champion? How can you not know?!” Glasses and Falk, even Gideon had been startled by the outburst, even more by the content of said outburst. “ Worldwide?”

“I told you not to judge prematurely.”

“Fucking hell”, was Gideon´s eloquent answer.  “Now that I think about it. Would you like to accompany me?”, I bowed to Gideon and held my hand out, portraying a gentleman incarnate.  Stuttering, tips of his ears growing red he replied: “I…yes…I´d really like to.”

I grinned, took his hand, waved with my free one at the three stunned man and pulled my soulmate out for the room. Relishing in the contact, I kept his hand in mine. It was small in comparison to mine.

“Do you need anything before we go?”  “Yes, wait here for a moment, I’ll get my bag.” Before he could run back up the stairs, I stopped him with a hand on his arm.  “Do you have something else to wear as well? Maybe jeans and t-shirt? It would make you stand out less and be more comfortable, we will need to drive for an hour after all.”  “Good idea.”

“I´ll wait here for you.” I called the old man, to let him know to pick us up here and not at myhouse.


	6. Ex hoc momento pendet aeternitas.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The karate tournament and the official introduction to the lodge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tada! Two chapters on one day...

Ten minutes later we were in the old man´s car, with Gideon and myself in the back and his wife next to him in the front.

“So, tell me, how did you meet our Gwaine, Gideon? He clearly isn´t the most social person around.”

“I met him at my ex-girlfriend’s birthday party.” At the word ex, I started to cheer inwardly. Those were some good news.  “Ex? When did you break up?”, I was too curious for my own good.

“Yesterday.” I nodded.

I won´t brag, but muhaha, meeting me and then breaking up with his girlfriend the day after was definitely an achievement. The car ride went well, listening to the radio with only a small bit of conversation. Later Gideon cheered me on at the competition and I trashed my opponents, throwing in some extra flashy moves for him. I found the situation damn hilarious. My competitors knew they couldn’t beat me, so they were only competing to see how long they lasted against me. I spent most of the time with Gideon, talking, joking, getting to know him better.

“Wow, you are amazing.”

“Well, thank you. Fighting is just something I was born to do, I would guess. It doesn’t really matter the style.”

“You are proficient in more than karate?”

** POV Gideon **

I couldn’t believe my eyes, Gwaine was a god on the mat. He knocked his opponents out like they were flies. My heart was beating so fast, the grin on my face was impossible bright. While my eyes held awe and respect for the man next to me. I hoped that I didn´t sound like a love struck fan, but when he told me, he wasn´t only good in karate… “

"Yeah, I have dabbled in quite a few fighting styles, with or without weapons. I am looking forward to a fencing match against you.” His eyes were twinkling, sucking me right into those green depths.

Fuck, fuck fuck…I was rapidly falling in love with Gwaine. And I haven´t even known him more than a few days. But somehow his presence alone made me feel safe. It was as if I was a moth and he the flame. Later that night I was leaning on him while we drove home. His shoulder was really comfortable, and I couldn’t help notice how I fit right next to him while Gwaine played with my fingers his lap. I wanted to stay awake, wanted to enjoy this, but the soothing monotone humming of the car lulled me to sleep. When Gwaine roused me we had arrived at my flat. 

The following morning I woke up with a smile on my face. I had dreamt of Gwaine. He was cuddling close to me, caressing my body, playing with my hair. Just as his hands wandered to more private areas my alarm buzzed. Thinking back to the dream, I blushed and tried to concentrate on today’s chores. I never had a sex dream about a specific person before… And I wouldn´t even have enough time to cool down, because later was Gwaine´s “assessment test” and of course the introduction to the lodge. Though after yesterday I believed we would end up amazed.

I was almost hopping from foot to foot, no longer able to stay still. Gwaine would be here any minute now. Mr George was watching me with a knowing look but I chose to ignored him. There, the air left my lungs, Gwaine was wearing tight fitting black jeans, a loose top and a leather jacket. His hair was windswept, and a silver earring was dangling from his right ear. I hadn´t noticed he wore one last time. He looked born to sin. Gwaine greeted Mr George and me, with a lazy smirk. I tried, and failed, to calm my silly heart.

** POV Gwaine **

“First, we will get the introduction over with, after that the assessment test and last but not least the fitting for your wardrobe.”

“The clothes for those missions, I presume?”

“Yes, that’s correct. Please follow me.” Shrugging I did just that, whistling.

We entered an intimidating room, lit with candles and torches. The tables had been positioned in a U-Form. Men in strange, full-bodied robes, were sitting behind the desks. Their heads covered by a hood, faces illuminated by the golden fabric on the inside of their pompous robe. I turned towards the end of the hall. The Falk guy sat there primly, looking as though he was the most important person present. He wore a thick golden necklace which showed his status. 

As soon as I was facing the U, he began to speak.  “The ruby, in the sign of the raven, will close the circle of the twelve. Ex hoc momento pendet aeternitas.”

Eternity is hinged upon this moment. Great, more ominous messages, and not at all like they were a crazy sect. No, of course not. One of the men stood and placed one of those robes over my shoulders, though mine was red. Fitting for my gem. Next, he gave me a long staff:  “You will find your magic.” I already found it thank you.

But I am quite sure he was not talking about me being an immortal god. That left the question, what kind of magic my gene had bestowed upon me? Hopefully something new, something entertaining. Searching mentally for any kind of power I hadn´t wielded yet… Reading thoughts nope, flying nope, bending water nope, walking on walls nope, shit that was difficult.

“Gwaine Simon Elias Shepherd, the last of the blood circle, you will worship and follow Count Saint-Germain. You will keep our secrets and defend them with your life.” My eyebrows rose with each sentence more and more.

Hell, no. The only person I will honour is my soulmate. Even then I am my own person, I have the be. The master of death follows no one!

“No”, one word, it didn´t take more to make my point clear. “I will follow no one.”

A startled silence engulfed the room. Even Gideon was eying me with his jaw dropped. Finally, Falk broke out of his stupor.  “You are the ruby”, he stood up, walking around to get to me.  “We are here to serve you. You are unique, precious and special. You will need to learn to accept your gift.” Oh, so ignoring the issue will help?

He handed me a golden ring with a ruby decorating it. No way in hell would I wear such an overdone ring. I made plans to put it on a chain around my neck. The robe guys started rapping their rings on their chairs, chanting: “Ita sit in aeternitatem!” Oh, wow. After a while they thankfully stopped with that nonsense and Gideon lent me out of the room.

“I will take you to our seamstress.”

“You swore to protect that Count?”, I inquired.  Luckily oaths didn´t have the weight and consequences they had back in the wizarding world. Gideon started walking slower, coming up next to me.

“I was raised here. This is all I know”, there was a bite in his tone, that I didn´t like.  No child should grow up surrounded by these freaks. Though grandpa Lucas was one of them as well, so they couldn´t be all bad. And Mr George had made a good impression as well…


	7. Even More Mysterious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting the Hokage, the assessment test, and operation jade...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you are all doing well or are fighting with all your might!  
Please enjoy the next chapter. Stay strong!

**POV Gideon**

I couldn´t believe what I had just witnessed. Gwaine had defied the lodge in front of the most important, most intimidating members, the whole counsel. Damn, he had guts. Leading him out of the room and away from the heavy atmosphere, I tried to find a start for a conversation.

“I will take you to our seamstress”, was the best I could do.

“You swore to protect that Count?” I had almost foreseen such a question. I understood where he was coming from, but he needed to get my point of view as well.

“I was raised here. This is all I know.” After that he was silent for a bit.

“I see, but one does not need to follow the path of their teachers.” Before I was able to question the odd advice, we arrived.

"Here we are.” I opened a huge wooden door, leading us to a large space, resembling a labyrinth with all the different rags with clothing. I looked around the cupboards, ending up in the middle of the room. It was cleared of all the clutter, only a small podium and a huge mirror filled it. In the corner sat a couch, a coffee table and a few chairs.

“Madam Rossini, we are here for the measuring.” Somewhere from the left, I heard a clang, then a woman with a thick French accent stated: “Oh, how lovely. I am finally meeting the ruby.” Gwaine was lazily scanning the room, looking cool even though he didn´t do a thing. Making my heart flutter.

A tall woman appeared behind a stack of hats, wearing a brown business outfit and a red beret: “I am Madam Rossini pleased to…”, as soon as Gwaine fully turned and locked eyes with her, she came to an abrupt halt. Her eyes glazed over for a second, then she took a deep breath, a large grin spreading on her face. I was about to ask, if Gwaine and the Madam had already met before, when she fell to her knees.

In alarm I hurried closer, only to recognize her kneeling in front of Gwaine, head bowed, right hand in a fist on her heart.

“Hokage-sama, it has been so long. I am delighted to see you well.” She didn´t raise her head. Astonished I watched the encounter. Gwaine scrutinized the woman in front of him, stepping closer. He lightly touched her cheek.

“Rise, you have no need to bow to me now.” His tone was firm, a leader speaking to his subordinate. Did he use that tone intentionally? The woman rose, but only reluctantly.

“There is time to talk about the old times later”, with that last almost demand, Madam Rossini reverted back to the woman I knew. But only after a salute to him.

“Hai!” Was that Japanese? She cleared her throat. “Well then, I will take care of your wardrobe. I will need to sew you entirely new outfits. Who would have imagined our ruby suddenly turning in to a man?” Taking measurements, she concluded: “You definitely won´t fit into anything I made for Gideon. You are much boarder.” The question´s in my mind only grew in numbers. Who was Gwaine really?

Next stop was the training hall. Here we practiced with the rapier, but also to dance, to walk properly, etiquette and so on. Honestly I was a bit nervous to fight Gwaine. He would probably trash me, as he had the guys yesterday. In case it was true, and he really had also learnt to wield the rapier. 

It ended as I had feared.

I lay on the floor, panting heavily and tried to somehow catch my breath, while Gwaine looked hardly winded at all. On what kind of hellish training regime was he? He smiled down at me and offered his hand, after a moment I took it and he lifted me to my feet with one tuck. Mr George and Falk had watched all the this, Mr George with a knowing proud look and Falk with a carefully blank face.

“Next is the history exam, please just answer a few questions.” It seems Gwaine didn´t even have to think about the answer, before he told it.

“Next we have dancing, Charlotte has agreed to be your training partner, as Gideon cannot.”

“I woulnd´t have minded holding Gideon close”, he was looking me right in the eyes, as he announced that, making me blush red and turn my gaze down. Bloody hell, that man. Charlotte entered the room, as if she had only waited to make an entrance. “Please do refrain to step on my feet.” I balled my fists.

She sent me a resentful look, our breakup and the following denouncement of being the ruby left a mark on her.

“As long as you are able to keep up, beloved cousin.”

The music started to play and instantly, as if anyone didn´t already watch him, Gwaine commanded the room. This time not with his mere presence and attitude, but also with his elegant movements. He twisted and turned, leading Charlotte around the floor. Twirling her and showing her off like some prized possession. He made it look effortless. I longed to replace Charlotte. How she must feel in those arms? I was glad and disappointed at the same time, when the song ended. On one hand I wanted to rip Charlotte away from Gwaine, on the other he danced beautifully, it was a sight to behold. Falk was obviously dumfounded, leaving all the speaking to Mr George.

“Excellent, truly marvellous. How did you learn to dance like that?” Gwaine grinned.

“If one can fight, then one can dance. One of my teachers once told me that.” His past got me more and more curious. I longed to see the real Gwaine.

“The assessment is over for now, congratulations on passing”, Falk had found his tongue again. Hurra!

Mr George, Falk, Gwaine and me moved to a different, smaller room. Mr George turned the hologram, which showed the twelve time-traveller’s, on and it spluttered to life. “The problem is that the last gene carrier from your family stole the chronograph, containing the blood of the first ten time-travellers”, Falk stated accusingly towards Gwaine, who was unfazed.

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but Paul de Villers, the last gene carrier from your family, was part of that drama as well. And it must have happened for a reason. Why would they steal the chronograph if not to prevent the circle of blood to close?”

“Why would they want to prevent that?”

“If the blood circle closes, the chronograph awards the owner a special power”, Mr George intervened.

“Lucy and Paul wanted those powers for themselves.”

“Gideon already met six of the twelve time-travellers and collected their blood to input it into the second chronograph.” “Only four are missing. Jade, opal, sapphire and tourmaline.”

Gwaine nodded to me: “Which one do you represent?” “The hardest, the diamond”, I told him proudly. Before Gwaine could make any kind of comment, Falk spoke: “We ran into problems. Margret Tillney. The grandmother of your grandmother. Birthed in 1884.”

“I met her yesterday evening in the year 1902, she told me she would only speak with you about her blood if at all.”

“Oh, interesting.” Was Gwaine even able to get stunned?

We lost no time in getting ready. Madam was luckily able to find a fitting outfit for Gwaine to wear. He both were now dressed in an elegant grey suit, complete with a rapier disguised as a walking stick. I had to lead a blindfolded Gwaine down the stone tunnel underneath the building to the chronograph. They didn´t trust Gwaine, still afraid he would steal the chronograph as Lucy had. Honestly, I enjoyed it immensely. I had my hands firmly on his shoulder and his arm and I could feel the muscles underneath the clothing. I somehow got the feeling Gwaine would be able to walk just fine without my help, but that didn´t stop me from touching and leading him. And he let me. The walk was filled with funny anecdotes and sharing memories. All to soon we arrived at the dungeon room the chronograph was located at. Falk and Mr George already waited for us.

“The operation jade may now commence”, Falk announced.

“Date of arrival is the 16. April of 1912.” Mr George informed us about the quote of the day, Gwaine put his finger in the hold.

I watched as the needle cut his finger, and the small drop of blood was taken in the chronograph, lighting up the ruby and generating a sudden bout of wind, while Gwaine vanished from sight. Now, it was my turn.


	8. A family reunion and a bloody battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting with Miss Tillney, her other house guests...and the Florentine alliance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my beta!

**POV Gwaine**

We landed in the dark dungeon we just left, only years in the past. It was refreshing to leave the tunnel and see the buzzing life outside. Fascinated I watched the people around us. A carriage transported us to our final destination. Madam Tillney´s home was a huge white mansion, though she didn´t leave us waiting in the entrance hall, hurrying down the stairs, happily proclaiming:

“Visitors from the future, how wonderful. Gwaine, I am so pleased to finally meet you. What a handsome young man you are.” I chuckled, bowed and kissed her hand.

“It is a pleasure to meet your, Miss.” Gideon went straight to the point: “Miss Tillney, I still have the same request as ten years ago.” Ten years ago? Gideon must have visited her in the year 1902.

“And my answer is still the same, you won´t be getting my blood. Let´s go upstairs. With a good cup of tea, a conversation flows even better.” We climbed the stairs, sitting down on a small coffee table

"Miss Tillney, how is it you know of my name?”

“I had visitors from the future, it happens more and more”, she smiled delighted.

“Miss Tillney you are making a big mistake, if you trust the wrong people”, Gideon interrupted, still standing. He clearly wanted to leave as soon as possible. But I had other plans. Miss Tillney knew more, and I wanted to get started on cracking this life’s mysteries.

“I always say the same. Margret, you are making a big mistake, trusting the wrong people”, offered a man standing in the doorway. I had sensed him, but deemed him not a threat. Miss Tillney apparently knew him, as he so confidently leaned against the door.

“Paul, look who is visiting today, Gwaine Shepherd”, Miss Tillney introduced me. The man froze with only that one sentence. Interesting. Tillney stood up: “I will get Lucy.”

“Gwaine is this truly you? Amazing. You grew up into such a handsome man”, his speech picked up more and more enthusiasm. Gideon stopped Paul right in his tracks. “Leave him alone, we will leave!”

“Why the hurry? I am not doing anything”, he protested. The man saw more in me. Scrutinizing him carefully, I came to a few likely conclusions. Let´s wait for Lucy, she will clear everything up, confirm or deny my theory. Standing up to defuse the tension, I greeted the man.

“You seem to know me, but I am not yet familiar with you.” He smiled relieved.

“My name is Paul, Paul de Villiers. It´s really strange, that you are this huge already.” I chuckled. “The time flows in strange ways.”

“Stop talking to him.” I shot Gideon a soothing look, he was afraid, not knowing what to make of the turn of events.

“I am sure Falk made sure you were the perfect weapon, to save the day”, Paul taunted bitterly.

“They all gave me their blood willingly.”

“Yes, because they don´t know what follows.”

“No, because they didn´t want to destroy all that the lodge archived.”

“Brainwashing is what it is. The circle of blood cannot be allowed to closed, ever! The count isn´t as unselfish as the lodge seems to believe. We know the truth.”

This was the moment Lucy stumbled into the room, her face showing longing and love. And my conclusion was made. I was their son. Lucy and Paul were my parents. My current mother must have adopted me, after those two escaped into the past. Well, shit happens.

“Gwaine.” She sighed, walking closer and gently stroking my cheek. I allowed her, only because she was my birthmother. Normally I wasn´t touchy feely at all, except with my soulmate of course.

“It is truly you.” I decided, the hell with it. “You are my mother, am I right?” She froze, gaping.

“Hhhow?”, she stammered. I shrugged, tempted to sit back down, this would end up being a longer talk than predicted.

“It was the logical conclusion.” This time Gideon didn´t stop Paul from getting closer. “My son is a genius”, he breathed out.

“When I want to be.” Not having to hold back any longer, Lucy pulled me into her arms.

“I am…we are so sorry we left you. I…oh god can you forgive us for missing your childhood”, she broke out in tears.

“Shh”, stroking her back I traded a look with Paul. He was close to tears as well.

“It´s fine. Grace was a wonderful mother. I wanted for nothing. You were not at fault, if I understand the situation correctly. You did what you believed was right and made sure I was protected at the same time. As long as we get to know each other now, I don´t blame you.” That broke Paul´s last restraint and he pressed us close to his chest as well.

“You are way too mature for your age”, he declared with a slightly wobbly voice. 

I am way too old for this shit.

“I think I haven´t quite processed everything yet.” The rest of the afternoon was spent catching up. Gideon played nice and no word was spoken about blood. They all wanted to forget about the time travelling for a moment.

“We will visit again, as soon as we are able”, I had to promise for the thousands time.

Finally, I managed to get Gideon and myself out of the mansion. Family was always so exhausting. Still it was nice, warm. It was seldom that I had living and caring family in one of my lives. The streets were empty already, the sun just sinking down and it left us with less and less light. I made sure Gideon was close to me and kept an eye on our surroundings. I had a bad feeling about this. For a shortcut we went through a small alley.

Suddenly men blocked our way. Fuck, a quick glance backwards, we were surrounded. Gideon sucked in a shaky breath.

“Gwaine”, his voice was panicked.

“Keep calm, we will make it out alive”, we stood back to back, I squeezed his hand. Drawing my rapier, I kept a close eye on our attackers. Four on my side and three on Gideon´s.

“Leave now, and I won´t kill you!”

They laughed loudly, a cold grimace on their faces. “We swore as the Florentine alliance to bring all of you abnormalities down. We will kill every last one of your pack!” Yeah, it would be impossible to reason with them. Relaxing my muscles even more I prepared for a fight. Kill or be killed. The sun was by now almost gone, leaving everything in a red tinge. The wind picked up a bit, howling through the small back lane. I rolled my shoulders.

“Well then let´s not delay this any further.” Especially because it wouldn´t be safe to jump back to the future here, I was not sure if this alley existed in our time.

With a few swift movements I had advanced to the blindsided men. A few swipes later and one was down. Lying in his own blood on the floor. Jumping over the half dead man, I didn´t wait for them to recover and get their shit together. The faster I killed them the better. My eyes glinted as cold as ice, no remorse whatsoever. My strokes were precise and on point. The men struggled to evade all of them. The small alley played to my advantage, only two men were able to stand next to each other, so the third had to wait and watch the fight happen unable to help. Leaving a deep cut in the left one’s leg and piercing the sword hand of the other one, I wasn´t able to dodge the enemy´s blade in time, which in a swallow cut on my arm. Adrenaline coursed though my veins. Fighting with renewed vigour I slashed away. Occasionally checking on Gideon. For now, he was able to hold his own. I grit my teeth.

Taunting them: “Is that all you´ve got?” There! One moment their guard was down, I used that opportunity.

Quickly burying my rapier in the man´s chest, while using my foot to kick the other in the gut. I yanked my rapier out. The third had sprang to take the downed one’s place, gingerly standing over the body. Not waiting I delivered a punch to the head, landing full on, leading to a nice pile of bodies. Last I took care of the gut-punched one. He was gasping for breath. Another punch and I heard as his spine cracked. That was the power of a god.

I swirled around to Gideon. Only to have my breath stolen from me.

Fuck!

I almost teleported to his side. Deflecting a vital blow, Gideon was leaning on the wall, bleeding from various cuts, the worst a long slash on his leg. One man was lying dead, the other two hurt as well. Eyes blazing, I advanced. How dare they hurt him? Hurt my precious Gideon! My heartbeat was drowning the screams. Even more blood splashed on my clothes. I watched in satisfaction, as the last two fell by my blade. As soon as the threat was eliminated, concern for my soulmate consumed me. Eyes softening, I carefully examined Gideon.

“Where does it hurt? Is the wound on your leg the worst one?”, my voice only wavered slightly, but that was merely because of the mountains of experience I had with battle wounds.

I needed to be calm now!

Gideon was still staring down on the dead men. He was in shock. Moving with careful, deliberate movements, as not to startle him I took off my suit jacket. All the while talking in soothing tones. Making sure he kept standing. I ripped of my shirt and tied it around Gideon´s leg as a makeshift bandage. That would stop the blood flow for now. Next I hastily pulled the jacket back on and swiftly picked my soulmate up. Holding him in a bridal carry. Gideon still hadn´t said anything. That frightened me more than anything.

Get a grip, I berated myself. I evaded the bodies on the way out, heading straight for the church I had spotted. I knew that church, it stood to our day. We would be safe there. Our time was running out fast.

Picking up the pace I managed to enter the church with Gideon in my arms. He had clutched my jacket tightly, burying his face in the crock of my neck. I cooed, giving my best to calm him. But now that we were about to jump back, I had no choice but to let go of him. Gideon made a distressed noise of protest, when I sat him down in the small wooden confession chamber. It broke my heart, to hear him whimpering.

“Shh, everything will be fine. I will have you back in my arms as soon as we are both back in the present”, I promised torn.

On cue, I was yanked to the present. I waited anxiously for Gideon to appear next to me. As soon as he materialized, I pulled him close again. I needed to take care of his wounds.

Deciding that a meddling lodge would only worsen Gideon’s mental condition, I picked him up again. My flat was close by, there we had everything we would need.

I had bought the flat under an alias. Officially, it was the flat of a friend of mine, who was out of the country currently, at least that´s what I told mother. I spend a lot of my weekends there. It had a fully stocked kitchen, anything we would need to bury ourselves inside for the weekend. Thank god, it was Friday today. I was lucky the way to the flat was so short, because we got quite a few astonished and worrying looks sent our way. Well I couldn’t fault them, we were both covered in blood, our clothes centuries old and in places cut to shreds. Leaving out the fact that I was carrying a grown man in my arms. I opened the front door with my magic, kicking the door closed behind us. I kicked my shoes off and headed straight for the couch, not caring if I got blood all over it. Gideon came first.

Gently I pried his hands of me. He whined and tried getting closer again. Cupping his jaw I made sure he looked me in the eyes.

“Gideon, darling. Gideon, please come back to me. Everything is fine. We are safe.” He nodded slightly, still dazed. “Wait here a moment, I will get the first aid stuff.” I stood up, with great reluctance I turned and raced for the right cupboard, returning as quickly as possible.

Glad I had stashed a bottle of water on the coffee table, I held the bottle out for Gideon together with a painkiller. I made sure Gideon had swallowed the pill. “It would be best to take the trouser off.” Gideon nodded again, not sure he heard or registered what I said, I slowly unbuttoned his bottom.

Damn, I had imagined me taking his clothes off quite differently. After a few tugs, Gideon even helped me getting the trousers off his butt. Carefully I shed the garment away, finally giving me a good view of the wound. Shit, that needed stiches. Ten minutes later I was done stitching and just finished wrapping a clean bandage around the leg. That was the moment Gideon finally came out of his trance.

“Gw…Gwaine?”, his voice was so weak.

“Yes, I´m here. Everything is fine. We’re safe.” Quickly sitting on the couch as well, I pressed him close. Without much thought pulling him in my lap. I had shed the jacket a while ago, and so my chest was fully bare. Gideon scooted closer to me. Inhaling and exhaling my scent. His breath hitched and I felt tears soak my skin. May hand ran soothingly down his back

“Let it out. The fight was intense. It is only normal to be shaken.” I swayed us back and forth. A big sob escaped him, heavy, heaving sobs that make the whole body shake.

“I…I…kille…killed, I fuck I…”, he started to hyperventilate, trying to get away from me weakly. I didn´t let go.

"He wanted to kill you. You only protected yourself. You are not to blame. Darling, I killed as well.” The longer I talked to less he fought against my embrace. But his breathing was still way to fast. “Breath in, that’s right slowly, breath out. There, that´s it.” I leant back into the couch, pulling him with me.

He cried himself out after a while. I caressed his hair, playing with the strands.

“Gwaine?” His voice was meek, I didn´t like it that way at all!

“Mmm, what is it darling?” He buried himself deeper into me, when he heard the word darling. A tiny smile made it on my face.

“Where are we?” “This is my flat. I thought it better to bring you here, rather than back to the lodge. Never mind that it was closer.” He nodded.

“Thank you”, came a tiny whisper.

“You don´t need to thank me. You are important to me.” I felt his face heat a bit at that comment and I chuckled. He got even redder when I brushed his bare legs with my hands again. Cute.

“Now, why don´t we get ourselves a bit more cleaned. I still haven´t checked all your other cuts.” When I made a move to lean forward, he pressed himself closer.

“Please, don´t leave”, his voice was pitched higher, full of panic.

“Shh, I won´t leave. We will go into the bathroom together, okay? I will stay in your sight at all times.” Clutching him closer I stood up, Gideon still in my arms. I wandered first to my bedroom. Shifting Gideon to one arm for a second, I pulled out two new sweatpants. Then to the bathroom, I set Gideon down on the edge of the huge tub. The bath had already been this huge when I bought it, but I didn´t complain. Sometimes one had to indulge. I put the heater on, filling the room with warm air. Glancing at my soulmate I deliberately shrugged my trouser off as well, now standing there only in tight fitting boxers.

**POV Gideon**

Blushing bright red I couldn´t make myself look away. Fuck, maybe it hadn´t been that of a good idea to force him not to leave me alone. But hell, I must be in heaven, this had to be it. Where else would I find such a man? He was built off solid muscle, sculptured like a god. His green eyes bored into me, making me squirm. “I can leave them on, if it makes you more comfortable”, Gwaine assured. I froze for a second, not sure what I wanted at all. But I was undeniably gravitating towards him. After the tender way he took care of me for the last few hours, I knew without doubt, that I was head over heels for him.

“I don´t…we are both men.” He nodded, turning to a cupboard and presenting me with a plastic piece and two rubbers.

“We will warp your bandage with this, to make sure it doesn´t get wet.” He kneeled in front of me, doing just that and then fixing it with the rubbers.

Looking down upon him, suddenly a giggle escaped me. Baffled Gwaine looked up. Probably questioning if I finally went around the bend. Then he grinned as well. He helped me out for my tattered shirt, leaving me as clothed as he. Embarrassed, I toyed with the fabric. All the while he put a plastic stool into the tub.

“You can sit on there, your leg outside of the tub and I will wash you.” Would my face ever turn a normal colour again?

Not with this gorgeous man around.

In the end he left me with my boxers on. He stood to my left in the tub, gently rinsing me with water. Then he took a washcloth to hand and proceeded to wipe me down. I will go crazy! His fingers did wonders. Kneading away the hard knots in my muscles, making my pudding in his hands. Signing I leant back into his body. He was extra careful with the cuts, making sure not to irritate them. He massaged shampoo into my hair, washing it away like a professional. Far too soon, he was finished.

He wrapped me up in a huge fluffy towel, after he had lifted me out of the bathtub, depositing me on a convenient placed chair. Though before I settled down, I shed of my boxers at last. I had a prefect view. Gwaine had no problems stripping himself completely bare. He stepped under the shower.

Fuck! Breath! Gideon, don´t fucking forget to breath! In! Out!

Gwaine was…huge down there as well. Watching the water flow down his body, my throat grew dry, swallowing I wiggled around a bit. A problem was growing down there, the more I watched Gwaine´s hands roam all over his body to get rid of the blood. Not even the conscious thought, that he was getting rid of BLOOD, did anything for me. When he shut down the water and dried himself, I pulled out all the stops. Thinking about everything and anything to get my body to calm down. Not that I didn´t want Gwaine to…to…touch me, but right now, I wasn´t ready for that yet. And not after a day like today. Not after…fuck that thought did it.

My breathing hitched, tears built, my throat grew tight. Gwaine as if sensing my distress, was beside me in an instance. He was kneeling on eye level, rubbing my arms, my shoulder, my hair. Gwaine spoke to me in a gently voice. Then he simply stood up and pressed my face to his broad chest. I rubbed my cheek along his muscles, his scent even through the fresh soap, calmed me greatly. After I was breathing normally once more, he coaxed me in the fresh sweatpants and once more picking me put like a princess. I didn´t mind, it made me feel safe, cared for. We made a quick stop in his bedroom, where he equipped me with a way to big shirt and some socks.

“Are you hungry?” My stomach grumbled like on command. “Well, that settles that. What do you think about ordering pizza?”

“Sounds good.” He deposited me on an armchair in the living room. Eyeing the couch and the blood stains, he simply got rid of the blankets littering it. Tada, a clean couch. Getting two new blankets he tossed them on the sofa.

“What about a movie?” We quickly decided on one. Not wanting anything serious or bloody, we ended up with a comedy. I cuddled close to Gwaine, tangling my fist into his shirt. He had me in his lap again, it was beginning to be my favourite place to be. His arms keeping me in place, he occasionally pressed a quick kiss to my shoulder. The shirt had slid down, exposing my shoulder, making it the prefect target for Gwaine´s affection. I felt all giddy inside. Truly contend since a long time. I must have fallen asleep, because I woke lazily when Gwaine gently laid me down on his bed. Tucking me in properly, he climbed in on the other side. After a second of hesitation I slide over to Gwaine, pressing myself on him. Gwaine let out a happy sigh tugging me closer, kissing me on the forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that´s it for now.  
Let me know, if you want to read more, then I will consider to continue this fanfic. ;-)
> 
> Stay or get healthy,  
your addictedforevermore!

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave comments and kudos!  
I love to hear from you guys,  
your addictedforevermore!


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